The incident came to light when police received a call at around 5.30 am from the father of the child who claimed that the girl Kavita was sleeping with her two elder sisters in the corridor of the hospital.
Police have checked the CCTV footage of the corridor which shows a middle-aged man lifting the child while she was asleep, a senior police official said. Ajan Singh, the father of the child, had brought his family to the hospital for the treatment of his six-year-old son who is suffering from breathing problems.
The mother was with the boy in the ward while her daughters were sleeping in the corridor of the ground floor. Singh had left for his work at 4 am and at that time, the girl was sleeping, the official said, adding that the girl's sisters woke up around one hour later only to find the toddler missing.
The official said police have examined the CCTV footage which showed a "vagabond" lifting the child.
"It appears that a professional child stealing gang is involved in the incident," the official said.
Published 14 June 2011, 13:42 IST